Heart attack, stroke, and other vascular occlusive diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, affecting nearly 20 million Americans. Because intravascular clot formation is known to play a prominent role in the occlusive events that characterize these diseases, current standard of care for both prevention and treatment of CVD involves either the chronic or transient use of one or more antithrombotic agents. Although these agents are effective, morbidity and mortality persist despite standard therapies. Inflammation is known to be an integral part of the vascular occlusive events that occur during heart attack and stroke, as well as those that occur after trauma, surgery, or percutaneous revascularization procedures. However, no therapies have yet been described that alleviate the inflammatory component of blood vessel occlusion because the specific inflammatory mechanism(s) that participate in clot formation have not previously been determined. New therapies that alleviate the inflammatory component of blood vessel occlusion and thereby vascular occlusive diseases are needed.